


A Court of Shadows and Flowers

by buckyismymainman



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, More tags will be added as the story progresses, Post-Book 4: A Court of Silver Flames, Spoilers for Book 4: A Court of Silver Flames, Swearing, This takes place after ACOSF so there are spoilers, more characters will be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:02:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29665614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckyismymainman/pseuds/buckyismymainman
Summary: Elain is struggling with her traumas and all she wants is to finally have a choice in her new life as High Fae.  Azriel is trying his best to keep feelings at bay for a certain Acheron sister.  There is still the threat of war on the horizon and no one knows what the future will hold.
Relationships: Elain Archeron/Azriel, Feyre Archeron/Rhysand, Nesta Archeron/Cassian
Comments: 14
Kudos: 37





	A Court of Shadows and Flowers

The damn rosebush wouldn’t come up. No matter how much Elain tugged and tugged, no matter that it had torn through her gloves it would not pull up. She wanted to scream out in frustration and just say the hell with it, but she couldn’t. No, she needed to get this bush up no matter how long it took or how much of her blood spilled onto the ground.

There was a soft chuckle behind her and she stiffened at the sound. Turning she spied Azriel standing there, one of his small smiles gracing his face. “Do you need a hand?” He asked as he eyed several of the rosebush’s broken limbs. 

Elain’s gaze slowly went back to the rosebush that had become the bane of her existence and then back to Azriel. “No,” she said simply, she caught a flicker of surprise on his face. “This is my garden and I can handle it.” Azriel seemed unperturbed by her declaration to want to do it herself. She knew that he knew how much this garden meant to her. His offer of help was appreciated but not necessary.   
  
“All right, then I shall leave you to it,” he let his gaze linger on her for a moment longer than necessary before he moved to head back inside the river home. 

Elain loosed a sigh and turned back to the rosebush. She tugged and tugged until at last the roots gave way and she was able to tear it from the earth. Smiling in triumphant she tossed it into the pile with the other weeds and flowers she had pulled that day. Her hands stung from where the roses’s thorns had torn at her skin, a small trickle of blood trailing down the pale skin of her palms. 

She took her work to the compost she had had one of the craftsmen make her. She knew that the others would be inside having their meetings and talking. A part of her knew that Lucien was nearby, probably apart of his check-ins. She hated that she could sense him, that she was tuned in to him.

Yet another choice that had been stripped from her.

Sometimes she could still feel the Cauldron, feel the utter cold and darkness wash over her. A shadow darted out from the house and coiled around her. Happiness bubbled up inside her at its touch, at what it meant. “Thank you,” she whispered to the wisp as it nuzzled closer to her.

Shadows had once been a thing of nightmares for her. 

When she was a child she had been terrified of the dark because she thought the Fae would come and snatch her out of her bed. She thought she would be whisked over the Wall and be eaten in some sort of twisted sacrifice. Being afraid of the dark was the only thing she had ever known for there were less than savory creatures hiding there.

But now she was one of them. And she had learned that they weren’t that different from the humans. Still this life wouldn’t have been the one that she had chosen for herself. She would have been perfectly happy staying human and marrying some human boy. Yet again another choice ripped from her fingers.

The shadow quiet and silent moved away from her body and almost like a snake leaned out to stare at her. It cocked what she imagined was its head to the side almost like it was asking, “Why so sad?”

She tilted her head back and let the sun wash over her, trying to heat the cold that had seeped into her entire being. “Choices, all my choices were taken and no one seems to understand that,” she whispered to the shadow.

She had thrown herself enough pity parties over the past couple of years since she had become High Fae. She dried her tears and headed inside to clean her wounds. The shadow had dropped to the floor but slithered behind her like a watchful dog. Azriel’s shadows were protective of her and even seemed to obey her from time to time. She had never mentioned this to Azriel or the others.

That sometimes in the dark of night when she was alone in her room just staring into the inky blackness of night the shadows would come close and she would speak to them like the old

friends that they were. Her sister had the House of Wind, but she… she had the shadows. She had the comfort that they brought her. Even the thought of Azriel knowing what she said to them didn’t dissuade her from spilling her deepest secrets and regrets. 

Maybe the shadows would tell him or maybe they wouldn’t, but she was grateful to them nonetheless.

As she moved down the hallway toward the stairs that would lead her to the level above she paused when she caught his scent. It had taken her a while to get used to these new smells, to being able to catch them. But she was slowly learning with the help of her sister and brother-in-law and the others. Mor had been especially helpful in the short amount of time they had known one another.

“Elain,” he said, his eyes dipped to her hands where the blood was now drying to scabs. “Why aren’t you wearing the gloves?”

Lucien Vanserra stood before her, a perfect male if she ever did see one. He was handsome in that unearthly sort of way that most Fae males were. Maybe if things had been different she could picture herself being happy with him. But instead, all she felt when she looked at him was fear. Not because she was afraid of him, but because of what he represented. What he had declared the day she had been dumped from the Cauldron.

A chill ran down her spine and she tried not to shiver.

“I don’t need them,” she said haughtily. “I like the scars.”

Lucien’s shoulders sagged, “I’m sorry… I just thought that—”

“Well you thought wrong,” she snapped, shadows swirled around her feet, rising up as if creating a barrier between her and Lucien. Sighing she dropped her gaze, “I’m sorry. Lucien, we… never mind.”

She turned to leave, but Lucien caught her wrist and she stiffened. “What is it, Elain?” His voice was pleading, begging her to stay a little while longer. “This is the longest conversation we’ve had since we met. I just want a chance.”

“Elain,” a new voice entered the conversation and she looked up to see Feyre standing there. She could have wept for joy at seeing her there. “Would you like to come get lunch with me?” Nyx was nowhere to be seen and Elain knew that either Rhys or one of Nyx’s many aunts and uncles had him.

“I’d love to,” Elain responded as she felt Lucien drop her wrist. She rushed toward her sister, letting Feyre tuck her into her side. She glanced over her shoulder at Lucien, his face devastated, but she couldn’t find it in her to really care. She was tired and she was unsure of what to do. “We… we’ll talk later.” She hated the hope that bloomed in his eyes, but she let her sister lead her away.

Azriel sat on the floor with Nyx on his lap. His nephew was babbling about something and he was listening intently, not wanting the young man to feel like he was being ignored. Rhys and Cassian were also on the floor watching the two of them with rapt attention. Rhys had love in his eyes as he gazed at his son. Never in a million years did he think he would have this. That he deserved this.

Cassian was just thrilled to be an uncle. Azriel remembered the reaction that Cassian had had when Feyre announced that she was pregnant and how the male had tackled Rhys to the floor. It had been funny at the time, and Azriel while not as vocal about his excitement felt it inside him, growing and blooming like one of Elain’s flowers.

Now he was holding Nyx and he felt utterly at peace. More at peace than he ever thought he would be around a child. Most cowered away from him and his hulking frame, but not his nephew.

“I’m a little jealous,” Cassian said catching both Rhys’s and Azriel’s attention.

“Oh?” Rhys arched a dark eyebrow. “And pray tell why are you a little jealous?”

Cassian pointed toward Azriel, “It’s clear that Az is the favorite uncle, and I was hoping that title would fall to me.”

Azriel chuckled and Nyx looked up and began laughing as well. The utter elation on his nephew’s face had warmth blooming through him. “He clearly has good taste,” Azriel said in jest.

Cassian narrowed his eyes, “Prick.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Rhys said. “No bad words around my child.”

Cassian rolled his eyes and looked at Azriel, “And so it has begun.”

Rhys tackled Cassian in a faux wrestle and Azriel took this as a chance to slip away with Nyx still in his arms. “They’re both idiots,” he murmured to his nephew. “But don’t tell them that I said that.” Nyx’s only response was to giggle in that cute baby way.

Azriel entered the kitchen where Nesta was sitting by the window drinking a cup of tea. She looked up when she heard Nyx and smiled at the small boy. It had been touch and go when Feyre was giving birth to Nyx, but Nesta had saved them and for that Azriel would be forever grateful to Cassian’s mate.

Nyx began to babble and stretch out toward Nesta when he saw her. “Come here,” Nesta stood and moved toward them, scooping him into her arms. Her gaze flickered up to Azriel, “Where are your two shadows?”

He chuckled, “Battling it out in Rhys’s study.” He took the seat across from her and gazed out the window toward the garden beyond. It was beautiful during the summer months, he could see all the hard work Elain had put into it. “They didn’t even notice Nyx and I leaving.”

“Rhys will soon enough,” Nesta commented as she bounced her nephew on her knee, his giggles making her smile grow. “I don’t think he’s left his son for more than two minutes since he was born.”

“I think you’re right,” Azriel said. “I always hoped her would have this someday.” So much pain and suffering had brought his brother here and he hoped that it never changed.

“What do you think Cassian will be like as a father?” Azriel’s gaze slid to her and he looked her up and down. “Oh Mother no, I’m not pregnant,” she said when she noticed him looking. “Just curious about how he might be.”

“Cass will be a great father,” Azriel told her. “Overprotective, but great.”

Nesta nodded in agreement, “I thought so too.”

A shadow slithered across the wall and Nyx tried to get it, but it was just out of reach. It came close to his ear and said, _The High Lord approaches._

Not a minute later the door to the kitchen burst open and there stood Rhys looking a little frantic, Cassian right behind him. “There you are!” He put a hand over his heart and Azriel already knew it was racing. “Don’t scare me like that.”

Nyx was transferred from Nesta’s arms to Rhys’s. Cassian gently maneuvered her so that she was now sitting on his lap, snuggled close. For a moment a pang went through Azriel as he watched them. Rhys with his son and Cassian with his mate. When would he have this? When would he be able to be just as happy as they were?

Once again when they were distracted Azriel stood and slipped from the room. The only one that seemed to notice him leaving was Nyx who made noise trying to catch his uncle’s attention, but Azriel was too lost in his own thoughts to notice. Out in the hall, he made his way toward the front door when it opened and revealed Elain and Feyre standing there. Feyre was smiling, but Elain seemed to have a lot on her mind.

“Hello Az,” Feyre said when she noticed him standing there. “Heading out?”

Elain’s gaze landed on him and he felt that familiar ache in his chest whenever she looked his way. “Yes, I have things that I need to attend to. Rhys and the others are in the kitchen if you’d like to see them.” Then he was slipping by both females and taking to the skies trying to shake Elain’s scent from his nose.


End file.
